Hello One and All!

“…always keep on praying for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:18

Do you know of anyone that prays particularly for you?  Irene Kenyon was a name I heard in our home when I was growing up.  Recently with Gary helping with a church evaluation at High Park Baptist in Toronto I read in their church history that she was a deaconness there in the 1930s.  In the 1940s (the decade I was born) she had become a secretary for the well known pastor and founder, Dr. O. J. Smith, at Peoples Church (location at that time on Bloor St. in downtown Toronto).  She lived with my parents who owned a boarding house not too far from the church. No doubt she prayed for my arrival and ensuing years even though I never remember meeting her. The mother of a missionary friend prayed for our ministry faithfully for many a year before she received her heavenly reward - and now an encouraging Bible School professor and his wife plus others we know and don’t know about. It is always hard to measure the impact of these prayers but what a great demonstration of love for someone else!

Congratulations to Fred & Maureen Brown as they celebrate their first year of marriage – a year that has been filled with unemployment and health struggles.  Movement in Maureen’s eye seems to be improving but she still has double vision.  Please pray for full time employment for Fred.

Please pray for our church particularly since Gary and I will be away for most of the month of August.  We will leave Sat. Aug. 7.  Continue to pray for our Mass Personal Contact campaign in Quebec that a good church start will happen for this 95% French community of St. Eustache near Montreal.

Chris Burton’s father’s surgery seemed to go quite well this past Wed.  Pray for complete restoration from his prostate cancer.

This past week we finally got our Internet connection fixed which was due to a problem with Bell’s wire from our home to Steeles Ave.  The technician was curious about our cafe room, as are all those strangers who enter our front door.  He seems to have had some Christian background but probably not attending church elsewhere currently.  Gary had a good conversation with him and presented him a copy of his book, Hot Brass Tacks.  Pray that God will work in his heart.

Join with us for Bible study and prayer at a our weekly home group this Thursday evening, 7:00 at the Burton home. 

Take care,

Wendy

[1] wendy.carter@kainos.org; [2] garyvcarter@kainos.orgwendy.carter@kainos.org; [3] garyvcarter@kainos.orggaryvcarter@kainos.orggaryvcarter@kainos.orggaryvcarter@kainos.orggaryvcarter@kainos.orggaryvcarter@kainos.orggaryvcarter@kainos.orgwendy.carter@kainos.org; [4] garyvcarter@kainos.orggaryvcarter@kainos.orggaryvcarter@kainos.orgwendy.carter@kainos.org; [2] garyvcarter@kainos.orgwendy.carter@kainos.org;
[6] www.heartlandfellowship.ca; [7] www.the-music-project.com; [8] www.cafeontheway.org; [9] www.fellowshipnetworksradio.org; [10] www.ttcbiblereading.org; [11] www.dtfbmusic.com; [12] www.gvc.name; [13] www.compasscoachinginternational.com; [14] www.myanmar.kainos.org; [15] www.churchcreation.com.  This newsletter is always located at [16] www.blog.heartlandfellowship.ca.  It is a summary of our Sunday morning church service which takes place at 9:00 a.m. at 7777 Churchville Rd., Brampton, ON. 

Getting Something out of Church by Gary Carter: So what do you get by going to church? Someone suggested encouragement.  What else would you have on your list?  Sometimes you don’t realize what you have received until maybe you leave that particular church.  Even watching children grow up year after year matters to you along with good memories or relationships you have developed with other family members.  All that is part of what you have become today.  A bad day in church is better than a good day at the baseball park, the Indycar race, a family reunion, even school or work. When someone walks away from a marriage is life really better for that person?  When you walk away from the church are you really better?  The relationship with the church was bought by God’s Son at the greatest price.  God gave the church for us to become closer to Him and to each other.

One Hit Wonder by Steve Macdonald: In Acts 5:37 we learn about Judas the Galilean, another leader of a band of people in revolt who was killed (according to Acts) with his followers scattering.  The historian Josephus reported that Judas, from the city of Gamala (born about 6 or 7 C.E.), and Zadok, a Pharisee, had rebelled due to new taxation ordered by the Governor of Judea.  The High Priest could not overcome this revolt. Publius Sulpicious Quirinius, Governor of Syria, conducted the well-known census in Luke 2:1-2. Judas was the author of the fourth branch of philosophy called Zealotism (the other three Sadducees, Essenes, Pharisees).  This group believed that no one but God was Israel’s master.  As with Jesus and Theudas (see last week) being called the Messiah, Judas probably also bore the name trying to make a bid for national dependence

One Another – It Sets Us Apart (John 13:34-35) -  by Gary Carter: The concept of “one anothering” is used about 100 times in the New Testament and refers to about 40 different issues that sets Christianity apart from other religions.  Companies organize or configure themselves in various chart forms e.g. several rectangles with one rectangle on top, concentric circles, a pyramid, overlapping circles etc.  These configurations help to describe how people relate to one another.  Two-way parallel lines with arrows pointing in opposite directions picture how church people relate to each other - back and forth.  The thickness of the lines may depend on how much love is shown to the other person.  John 13:34-35 is our anchor point or verses which mention we are to “love one another” three times as commanded by Jesus.  Other verses with the same theme are: Romans 12:10; Romans 13:8; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:2; Hebrews 10:24; I Peter 1:22; I Peter 3:8; I Peter 5:14; I John 3:11, 23; I John 4:7, 11, 12; 2 John 1:5.
Love One Another:  What do I do to make this real in my church?  For example, do you speak to each other by singing in church?  If you don’t sing you are failing one another.     Appreciating the other person’s music has become a #1 battle in our churches.  It is our Biblical responsibility, young and old alike, to expand and appreciate all music so that the church can be unified and become outstandingly attractive.  Give your love sacrificially in light of Christ’s sacrifice for you.

Communion: The passage in I Corinthians 11 talks about sharing the Lord’s Supper with one another.  Eating together plays a big part in the New Testament. This interaction built into the context (thus our Breakfast Church) allows people to better relate to each other.

Sport Orts (or Sport Terminology that Doesn’t Make Sense) by Steve Macdonald:
In baseball when you miss the ball why is it called a strike?
How come all baseball players are not called catchers?
Is football coaching a sideline career?
What do they keep in a pole vault?
Can playing golf get you teed off?
Isn’t polo mostly horseplay?
How come baseball innings are made out of outs?
In boxing during every round why do the boxers square off?